By Dadson A. Musa
Sports of various kinds which used to be for leisure and fun are now serious business. Recreation can still not be taken away from it. The love for various sports keeps growing around the world due to greater media attention. When the brutal and evil apartheid ended in South Africa but the democracy was threatened by right wing extremists, Nelson Rollilahlah Mandela, himself then a footballer and boxer leaned on sports to cement the unity and democracy his country had just achieved. We saw how blacks and whites came together to celebrate South Africa’s victory in Rugby world cup, cricket world cup and the African Cup of Nations back the 90s. Sports are patterned now for our youths and it is these youths that the country depends on for work and hence development. After the war, the ones wielding guns and matchets were youths and they were the ones who needed rehabilitation of perception or mind set. Sierra Leone is divided along tribal and regional lines and that division has tended to deepen due to politics. That divide has been our constant curse and foreigners have tended to take advantage. Statutory international sporting bodies are very clear about not mixing sport with politics which has the tendency to divide a conference. These bodies like FIFA, World Athletics, Tennis, etc were formed to bring people together from different race, nationality, ethnicity and background. That remains in force up till today.
Sierra Leone takes part in various international sporting events and we have shown signs of brilliance and success which this nation of 16 tribes has celebrated without recourse to whether this is a Mende, Temne, Limba, Loko, Fullah, etc as the case may be. In fact, during those victorious moments even politicians from across the divide are seen celebrating together. That is what we must seize on as a country blessed with so much but greatly threatened by divide. Mohamed Kallon, at the height of his footballing career, then our war was raging was used by the United Nations to go to the bush and talk to the rebels to drop their guns and choose another path in life. And they listened because they all admired him and were very proud of him as Sierra Leonean doing well in Europe. So, government, on their part have to make sure there is so much investing in sports in terms of finance and other resources. They should also make sure the right talents are propped up and avoid putting square pegs in round holes. Modern day sport is business and therefore has the potential to create jobs and bring infrastructural development which Sierra Leone needs badly. Now that government has realized the power of sports to unite a fractured nation, efforts should be made to build on the gains to make sure our youths get the much-needed opportunities in sport to keep them from drugs and deviant behaviour. These respective sports if they are properly structured can attract foreign investments. Sierra Leone seems to be doing well in other sporting disciplines apart from football especially, beach volleyball, table tennis, cricket and to some extent athletics.
The only snag now is the corruption threatening to wreak havoc in the management of our various sports. There are instances where spaces for athletes to go out and represent the country are sold to non-players who have the money. And also bringing people from abroad to represent the country when locals have trained and are fit to represent the country in these international competitions. Also of issue is individuals trying to personalize sporting associations to the detriment of the sport and the good of the country as a typical case in point is Kelvin Kelly who has run the lawn tennis association for two terms and want to continue cling on as president. This has come even when the constitution of lawn tennis says his time is up. And has gone to court twice and lost. These and other negative happenings and infighting in our sporting associations must be put to an end. Once these issues are thrashed out then we going to see positive change in the unity and development of our country, Sierra Leone.
Copyright –Published in print in Expo Times Newspaper on Friday, July 5th, 2024 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)
